Tapped Out

Tennessee Banking Magnate Jake Butcher, 46, used to boast that he rose
from rural poverty to wealth and political influence the honest way, by
borrowing money. Trouble was, as chief executive of the five banks in
his United American Group, Butcher liked to lend money too, and too
freely. Among the favored borrowers: Democratic politicians and the
bank's directors and their relatives.

Last Monday, State Banking Commissioner William Adams shut down
Butcher's flagship, the United American Bank of Knoxville, citing
"large and un usual loan losses" at the $760 million institution.
It was the fourth largest U.S....